History

So called because in its earliest days players rode on floating barrels that resembled mock horses, and swung at the ball with mallet-like sticks, water polo was developed in Europe and the United States as two differing sports.

The modern form of the game is based on the European version and made its Olympic debut at the Paris Games in 1900 when Great Britain won gold.

Did you know?

Wedgies - where players pull up an opponent's swimming costume to cause eye-watering discomfort - are so commonplace in the women's game that some teams, including the Spanish, have taken to giving themselves wedgies before matches in order to prevent them during play.

Their superiority over Belgium in the final was such that they limited the amount of shots they took to spare their opponents' embarrassment.

The early version of the sport bore a key difference to the one we now know - swimming was not necessary.

Instead, those first Olympic medals were contested in pools only deep enough for a spot of advanced wading. As a result many of the players could not actually swim.

During the 1920s, games were switched to larger, deeper pools. Swimming became a prerequisite and the sport advanced from little more than a holiday pastime to a skilled and physically demanding sport.

It was not included in 1904 but has appeared at each subsequent edition of the Games, with the women's event introduced in 2000.

Are you inspired to try Water Polo? Or maybe you are a keen enthusiast already? Get in touch and tell us your experience of the game by tweeting us on @bbcgetinspired or email us on getinspired@bbc.co.uk.

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